Carroll County Man Charged in Amy Yates Murder

A judge in Carrollton ruled that a 20-year-old man accused of killing an eight-year-old neighbor in 2004 will be tried in Carroll County Juvenile Court. That's because Chris Gossett was 16 at the time of the crime.

A special grand jury decided to prosecute Gossett for involuntary manslaughter. Gossett, who is mentally retarded, was 16 when Amy Yates was strangled.

Last year, he admitted to committing the crime but later recanted. Because of his admission, however, a 14 year-old who had been serving time for the murder was set free.

Jeff Hunt with the Carroll county D-A's office says it will be a difficult case to prosecute.

"If it goes to a full-blown hearing in juvenile court... I mean, everything we used to try to get the first juvenile convicted is now going to be used against us," he said. "It's going to be used to exonerate Chris Gossett."

If convicted in Juvenile Court, Gossett faces less than a year in prison. That's because juvenile detention only goes until age 21.

Alleged murderer tried as juvenile

A 20-year-old man accused of killing an eight-year-old neighbor in 2004 will be tried in Juvenile Court. The Carroll County judge said his decision hinged on the fact that Chris Gossett was 16 when Amy Yates was killed. Yates was strangled and left in a gully near her mobile home park in Carrollton. A grand jury chose to charge Gossett with involuntary manslaughter. Gossett came forward in 2006 and confessed after a now 14-year-old boy was sentenced to serve almost two years for Amy's death.